The Supreme Court Tuesday directed a committee formed to resolve the issue of exorbitant fee charged by private schools to regularise the fee structure of the schools in question. A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar heard a suo motu case against fee hike by private schools. The chief justice expressed his dissatisfaction with the committee’s progress on the matter and remarked that he would head the committee himself. “Private schools are continuing to increase fees, and parents have been left crying,” he observed. “We want that [all the] stakeholders sit together and resolve the matter. [Any] remaining matter can be dealt with in the court,” he added. The law secretary informed the bench that private schools wanted to increase the fee by 8 to 10 per cent every year and also did not want any restrictions placed on them. Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan observed that it needs to be determined via forensic audit of the private schools that how much these schools earn as the fee is determined accordingly. The law secretary told the court that the stakeholders had agreed on the eight per cent hike. The court then directed the committee, which is headed by federal ombudsman and includes former attorney general Makhdoom Ali Khan, to determine how often and by how much the fee is increased. The chief justice further remarked that the federal ombudsman and the auditor general may be summoned before the court. Published in Daily Times, November 14th 2018.